BROOKINGS, S.D. – The Omaha track & field team holds down fifth place after the first day of competition at the Summit League Championship.
The Mavericks got a lifetime best performance from
Taylor Ramaekers in the pentathlon and a fifth-place finish from their Distance Medley Relay to earn five points on day one.
Ramaekers posted a score of 3,138 to earn eighth place. It was a 188-point lifetime best, and it ranks ninth all-time in school history. Her day featured two individual event bests and another that was just one inch from tying her best.
Ramaekers had her best event finishes in the long jump and high jump where she was fourth. Her long jump mark of 17-01 ¼ was one inch off her current PR. Her high jump leap was 5-01. She put up a PR in the 60 meter hurdles, running a time of 9.69, and in the 800 meters where her time of 2:37.47 was more than five seconds better than her previous PR.
In the Distance Medley, the team of
Maya Nachtigal,
Scarlett Hill,
Taylor Sporrer and
Joanna Topham ran a time of 12:39.87, good for fifth and four points.
In other action,
Carrie Simonson qualified for Sunday's finals in the 200 meters. She ran a time of 25.40, just .06 from equaling her lifetime best.
Simonson also posted a lifetime best in the 60 meter dash with a time of 7.83. Hill did the same, running a time of 7.85. Both narrowly missed qualifying for the finals.
Among other notable performances,
Lucy Turner posted a three-foot lifetime best in the weight throw with a mark of 42-09 ¾.
In the 3,000 meters,
Danielle Howard ran a time 11:15.71, almost 22 seconds faster than her previous lifetime best.
"I was really happy with most of the performances today," said head coach
Chris Richardson. "It's always good competition at the conference championship, and our athletes are stepping up to the challenge.
"For those who didn't do as well as they would have liked, we told them to reflect and learn from this experience so that they can come back stronger next time."
Defending champion North Dakota State leads the meet with 78 points. South Dakota is second with 36, and South Dakota State and North Dakota are tied for third with 34.
The championship resumes on Sunday at 9:30 a.m. from the Sanford-Jackrabbit Athletic Complex at South Dakota State.
